GSA: skin of the external auditory meatus; GVA: viscera of head, neck, thorax & abdomen proximal to the left colic flexure; SVA: taste from the epiglottis

also known as: CN X, 10th cranial nerve; the vagus n. passes through the jugular foramen to exit the posterior cranial fossa; (Latin, vagus = wanderer, so called because of its wide distribution to the body cavities)

Clinical Terms

congenital anomaly in which the upper esophagus ends (atresia) and does not connect with the stomach, and the lower esophagus connects to the trachea (tracheoesophageal fistula); a common complication seen shortly after birth is an aspiration pneumonia - infants will demonstrate excessive salivation, gagging, and coughing with feeding, poor feeding and a bluish discoloration of the skin (cyanosis); treatment involves the surgical repair of the esophagus before the child can take anything by mouth

visceral pain

pain relating to the viscera (i.e., splanchnic); mediated by the autonomic nervous system

referred pain

pain that is felt somewhere other than a region from which it originates; mediated by the autonomic nervous system

carcinoma

any of the various types of malignant (invasive) neoplasm derived from epithelial tissue in several sites, occurring more frequently in skin, bronchi, stomach, and prostate gland in men, and in the breast, cervix, and skin in women (Greek, carcino- = cancer + -oma = tumor)

tachycardic

patient with a rapid beating of the heart, defined as over 100 beats/minute

a common major operation performed to remove malignancies of the head and neck; the neck must be opened laterally and the majority of the sternocleidomastoid muscle is removed along with the regional cervical lymph nodes, the jugular vein, accessory nerve, submaxillary and parotid glands

epistaxis

nosebleed

murmur

a finding that can be indicative of heart disease. Murmurs can result from abnormalities in the heart or vessels that lead to turbulent flow